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One lucky person and one lucky friend of theirs will win guest list spots to next Friday’s (July 15) killer Two Way Monologues show at Sneaky Dee’s. The wicked lineup is Dilly Dally, the Cheap Speakers, HotKid and a DJ set by the Ruby Spirit’s Alex Pulec.

TO ENTER:
Email roundletters @ gmail . com with “I want to get sweaty at Sneaky’s”I will compile all the entries and pick a winner from a random draw. I will only contact the winner.

ENTER BY:
12:01AM Thursday July 12

Dilly Dallyis a Newmarket-based pile of spunk. Their sound feels like those summer memories years ago that are just a daze but you’re reaching out in front of you trying to get them back just for a taste. It’s woozy but in the kind of way that one eyebrow is raised, always at the ready.

The Cheap Speakers is a Toronto rock band that I forsee will turn the volume and the crowd up on Friday night. They’re polite rabble rousers and it makes for a refreshing attitude. They’ve recently come off of an Eastern Canadian tour and are apparently armed with new material.

HotKid was on tour with Sloan just last week. The guy/gal duo have updated their website with blog posts about it a bazillion times since, so I’ll say there’s not much doubt that their excitement will be gone by next Friday yet, and I’m looking forward to hearing them blow the roof off the venue with their gritty garage rock.

Alex Pulec has been getting into DJ’ing surf rock and rockabilly around town lately and he’s ready to take over the last spot of the night, letting everyone continue to sweat it out to dance moves across the jumpy Sneaky’s floor. He’s been beefing up his vinyl collection, so get ready to Rock Around the Clock (or at least until last call).

Here’s the third installment in my short story album review series, in which I incorporate an album I see as visual and memorable into some imaginative story of my own. This is usually what I see when I listen to this album. There’s no telling if I’m on the dot, but try it out for yourself. I’ve also embedded the songs throughout (and italics are lyrics).

I’ve chosen The Ruby Spirit’s Born Under a Veil for its theatrical personality, gusto and storytelling. The Toronto band released the album in September. I also reviewed the album for Exclaim.

This story is focused on a character named Jody and her quest to break out of her boring lifestyle into something more thrilling by starting an underground theatre with her friends and putting on her first production.

The lads of Nightbox premiered their official music video for “Pyramid” via this week’s episode of The Wedge on Much Music. Now we have it via YouTube. Just in time for the weekend, as this is that cute dancey party track you’ve been waiting for. Watch the five-piece revel in colour and imagination at an old, abandoned house and in a field (it looks cooler than how I’ve described, honestly).

I’ve been aware of this Toronto band for a while, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to put some verb into the sedentary thought bubble. I’m particularly keen on their single, “Realpolitik,” off their November-released album .272. It is hollow, electric and explosive. “Dancing’s all I can do lately, I’m so tired of everything,” is an easily identifiable line, and yet so blissfully ironic. The Wilderness are part glam, part new wave and part gritty electro rock. There’s definitely a little bit of something in there for numerous different kinds of listeners. Sometimes the instrumentation gets much more action than the vocals, which leaves the vocalist in this state of floating with some upwards static movement. .272 is like those neon lights you see at night through the car window as you blaze down the street, adding detail to a world that can otherwise be drab. You can stream the album on the band’s BandCamp page. Here’s a plus: see them at the Great Hall this Saturday with The Ruby Spirit, Bella Clava and more for the Band of Heroes comic book launch.

Brazilian Money

While I may only have a certain amount of appreciation for bedroom low-fi pop, that means whatever does break through the barriers is impressive to me. Enter Alberta’s Garrett Johnson, aka Brazilian Money. Johnson actually recorded the album This is Not a Dream while feeling isolated from fun in Kelowna, BC. The product is a bit goofy, what with song titles like “Give Up That Dog” and “Bianca, Make Out With Yr Boyfriend!” Johnson is total funk and soul, from his high-pitched belts to the sassy looped guitar. It’s all covered in glitter and marked with post-its of reminders to go to the beach or pick up some party favours. There’s plenty to take in on this album, from warped noises to wide eyes. It’s quirk that I plan to keep around for the summertime. Stream the album on the BandCamp page.

Rattail

Though the name doesn’t really conjure up the best image, Rattail is a promising new sound to my ears. This Toronto band has recently released four songs re-worked, which you can stream on their BandCamp page. Opener “I Swim” is a fluid, tribal electro daze, “George Tronic” is a slow, subtly distorted ballad with some really neat lyrics (“I share my eyes with you in hopes that my hands can be free, cross my bones and hope to die for you”), “ByeBye” takes things a bit more experimental with samples of funny vocal techniques and strings and “The Heat” has some nice melodies. Rattail has this weird underwater pioneer texture to them that I dig, it’s odd and adventurous but it feels smooth and comforting at the same time.

1. FREAK OUT OMG IS HE GOING TO ASK ME HOW IS HE GOING TO ASK ME I CARE SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW EVERY SINGLE THING HAS TO BE PERFECT I AM SO FAT CAN WE GET A LIMO WILL THEY PLAY THE RIGHT SONGS WILL WE KISS WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER….

(let’s be honest, almost all of us have had this type of prom)

2. I LOOK REAL GOOD IN MY THRIFT STORE DRESS ALL MY FRIENDS DO WE’RE REALLY THE COOL ONES HERE I MEAN FOR REAL BUT CMON WE STILL CARE ABOUT PROM WE STILL CARE WHO WINS KING AND QUEEN WE JUST HOPE ITS ONE OF US BECAUSE WE DESERVE THIS ‘HONOUR’ MORE, EVEN THOUGH SHE WON’T ADMIT IT THIS IS WHAT SHE’S ALWAYS DREAMED OF BUT WAIT….

I had the absolute pleasure of accompanying my new friends The Ruby Spirit down to their show in Buffalo, NY (my hometown) on Friday. It was a blast of a day, ending with them killing it at Mohawk Place. They’ve recently flipped their set-list backwards, and turns out it made everything for the better. Besides their songs off the Born Under a Veil EP, they included two new hits, “Microhearts” and “Evolution Sickness.”

Watch ::

The Ruby Spirit will play the Band of Heroes comic release party at the Great Hall in Toronto on May 28 with The Wilderness, Bella Clava and the Lovely Killbots. All of the bands will be immortalized in a comic about them conquering Toronto.

I’ve been listening to the new Austra album Feel it Break a lot lately (out May 17 via Domino/Paper Bag). I find it very hard to turn off somewhere before it actually ends. I’ve even sat and waited through it because it’s so good I don’t want to let it go. The band’s Toronto CD release is May 19 at Lee’s Palace, and tickets should still be on sale. Gotta say, Feel it Break seems to only be on the cusp of breaking out still, and it will, so keep a lookout. Here’s hoping that it makes its way onto the upcoming Polaris Prize long list.